Man gets 17 years for attack on ex-wife

VISTA — A man who poured gasoline on his estranged wife and tried to light her on fire as she sat in her car in an Oceanside parking lot was sentenced to 17 years in state prison on Aug. 17.
Danny Vinci, 44, was convicted of four felony charges in July, including assault with a caustic chemical and making a criminal threat.
Vista Judge Harry Elias ordered Vinci’s prison sentence.
Vinci has a criminal past and was out on bail for a drug charge when he doused his ex-wife with gasoline, now 44, outside of a dance studio while she waited in her car to pick up her granddaughter on March 11, 2010.
The victim testified that she was inside her car at the Dance Unlimited parking lot on Industry Street in Oceanside when she smelled gasoline, and about 20 minutes later she saw the defendant before his surprise attack.
Vinci pinned her in the car and as she forced the door open to escape, he squirted gasoline all over her.
But the attempt to light her on fire wasn’t successful. The prosecutor said the lighter Vinci used would not spark, and as he tried to light it several times he said he was going to kill her.
Deputy District Attorney Keith Watanabe said the two had an on-and-off relationship, and weeks before the gasoline attack the victim claimed Vinci beat and choked her so she ended the relationship.
Vinci was convicted of that domestic violence act against his ex-wife on Feb. 21, 2010.
The victim had been married to Vinci for a brief time about 16 years ago, and they reconnected shortly before the February choking incident, according to Watanabe.
Watanabe said the defendant has had five separate prior prison commitments and spent the majority of the past 10 years behind bars.
A mistrial was declared earlier in the year, after a witness said something in court that the judge had excluded from testimony.